Satoru Kitaoka
Satoru Kitaoka (born February 4, 1980) is a Japanese mixed martial arts fighter. He has fought the majority of his career as a welterweight for Pancrase, but moved down to lightweight in 2008 when he joined MMA promoter World Victory Road. Kitaoka is renowned for his submission grappling abilities and is the reigning BJJ and No-Gi Open Champion in both the 79.7-kilogram (176 lb) and Absolute divisions. In August 2008, he entered and won the 2008 Sengoku Lightweight Grand Prix and became the inaugural Sengoku Lightweight Champion in his subsequent title fight with Takanori Gomi. He is the current Deep Lightweight champion. Mixed martial arts career Early career Kitaoka began his career in Pancrase as a welterweight, compiling a record of 19-8-9 before dropping down to lightweight and fighting for Sengoku. Sengoku lightweight tournament and championship Dropping down to lightweight, Kitaoka's first fight for Sengoku was a submission win over Ian James Schaffa at '' Sengoku 2'' on 18 May 2008 before entering Sengoku's eight-man lightweight tournament. In the first round of the tournament at Sengoku 4 on 24 August 2008 he was put up against American Clay French. Kitaoka made short work of French, winning by submission due to an achilles lock at 1:21 of the first round. The win put him up against fellow Japanese fighter Eiji Mitsuoka in the tournament's semifinal taking place at Sengoku 6. Kitaoka again made short work of his opponent winning by a heel hook submission at 1:16 of the first round. The win earned him a place in the tournament's final taking place that same night against Kazunori Yokota. The fight proved longer than Kitaoka's three previous fights as it went the distance completing all three five minute rounds with Kitaoka being awarded the unanimous decision, thus winning the 2008 Sengoku Lightweight Grand Prix.name="yahoo"> The lightweight tournament win set up Kitaoka to fight the last reigning Pride FC Lightweight Champion, Takanori Gomi, for Sengoku's newly created Lightweight Championship. The two fought at Sengoku no Ran 2009 on 4 January 2009 and ended with Kitaoka defeating Gomi with an achilles lock at 1:41 of the first round.Sengoku 7 play-by-play from Sherdog.com In his first title defence, on August 2, 2009, at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 9, Kitaoka lost his lightweight championship to Mizuto Hirota. Later followed up with a KO loss to Jorge Masvidal at Sengoku 11. Post-Sengoku Kitaoka won his next four fights, mostly by decision before fighting Shinya Aoki for the Dream Lightweight championship. He lost by unanimous decision. At Deep: 58 Impact, Kitaoka defeated Katsunori Kikuno via unanimous decision. Six months later, Kitaoka faced future Bellator MMA tournament winner Will Brooks at Dream 18. Kitaoka lost the bout by TKO (punches) in round two. He then went on to win the Deep lightweight title against Daisuke Nakamura by unanimous decision on April 26, 2013. Kitaoka returned to the Pancrase organization and defeated Dom O'Grady via guillotine choke in the first round.http://www.asianmma.com/?p=7526 Kitoaka then lost by knockout to Ramazan Esenbaev, nineteen seconds into the second round at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2013. In Kitaoka's first title defence as Deep lightweight champion, he faced Naoto Miyazaki at Deep: 66 Impact. Kitaoka defeated Miyazaki via unanimous decision. Championships and accomplishments *2008 Sengoku Lightweight Grand Prix Champion *Sengoku Raiden Championship Lightweight Champion (one time; first) *Deep Lightweight Champion (one time; current) Mixed martial arts record References External links Category:1980 births Category:Japanese practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Category:Japanese mixed martial artists Category:Living people Category:Lightweight mixed martial artists Category:People from Nara (city) Category:Lightweights